As a former municipal worker I have been exposed to the challenges of running a city. I have always taken a keen interest in municipal services. Now that we are travelling the majority of the time by bus, I thought I would talk about the bus system in Alicante and area.

The city of Alicante’s population is approximately 330,000. The city has two bus systems within the city and then there are regional buses that work seamlessly with the Alicante system. The regional bus system has several companies. One is called the Subus and the other is called “Baile”. The Subus provides travel throughout the region from city to city. The Baile is a singular region route.

The Baile buses run to and from the City of Alicante through several smaller towns ending up in the town of Santa Pola. We are currently living along the Baile route and use this bus system. It runs on an hourly basis with several buses diverting throughout the day to the international airport. The cost of a one-way bus ticket on the Baile system is $1.50 euro. What I find particularly interesting is the bus driver role. He is required to make change while driving the bus. There is a small coin drawer built into the bus console which is used for coin. There is no automated coin box or slot for paying like in Canada.  A passenger will simply lay the coin or bill down on the ledge and the bus driver makes change from the coin drawer. If the passenger pays by a larger denomination the bus driver will make change from bills in his pocket. The bus driver also sells “tarjetas” which are the multiple bus ride cards. The tarjetas cost $15 euros each and are for 10 rides. I found it odd that the bus driver carries that much cash with him on the bus. Some bus drivers keep the money (bills) in their shirt pocket while other bus drivers keep the money in the pant pocket. They will pull out the wad of bills to make change at times.  All of this is done while the bus is either at the bus stop while people are getting on, or even sometimes if they are running late the bus driver will finish the cash transaction at a red light while waiting for the light to turn. The passenger will stand beside the driver until they get their change even when the bus is moving.  There are times when passengers will ask the driver questions while he is driving. He will answer and carry on a discussion even when driving. The bus drivers tend to be very helpful and friendly.

The bus drivers in the city of Alicante tend to be less friendly and a little less helpful. I believe the main reason for this is simply they don’t  have extra time to chat while driving in the city.  Driving in the city is a challenge and requires constant attention to the road.

The buses in the city of Alicante are colour coded into two groups, blue and red.  The blue buses are the “Interurbanas”  lines. They run between the main bus station to the outer areas of the city. For example you would take a blue #24 bus to go from the waterfront  at the south end of the city through to the far north end of the city. This would be similar to the express bus system used in Kingston Ontario.

The red buses are the local ones which cover certain areas of the city.  There are numerous red bus lines and they are all numbered routes.

It can be very difficult to know which bus to take, if you don’t know the area. There is no automated or PA system to announce the bus stops and it is up to the passenger to know when to get off.  The cost of a bus ticket in the city of Alicante is $1.45 euro.  You can pay the bus driver in cash or use a tarjeta. You can only buy a tarjeta at the main bus station. You can get a basic tarjeta or have a personalized one for an additional cost. There are different cost for the tarjetas depending on your situation. Student, Senior, tourist or adult are all priced differently.  Below is an example of the cost for bus transit in city of Alicante.

It has taken us a while and a few wrong bus rides to figure out the bus system, We are now getting comfortable using the bus system our next venture will be the TRAM system.

“Adios y que tenga un gran días”